Overseas Buyers

Foreign Persons

For foreign nationals looking to purchase a home or property in Australia, there are a few things to keep in mind. The purchase of property can vary depending on your resident status as well as whether the property is a new construction or existing construction. Here is a breakdown to help explain it.

Pre-existing Properties

FIRB does not allow non-residents to purchase pre-exiting properties for either home use or investment purposes, except under a few conditions:

1. Companies needing housing: Companies that need to house their Australian-based staff can apply to FIRB. Under the condition that the company is responsible for renting and selling the property in the future, this kind of purchase is usually approved.
2. Redevelopment:Purchasing existing property to be demolished and rebuilt can also be approved through FIRB, as long as the new development will increase the amount of housing. So if a single-family home is the one destroyed, a multi-family home would be its replacement.

New Properties

Non-residents will have an easier time purchasing property to construction new establishments. They will still need to apply through FIRB, but the acceptance rate is higher.

Temporary residents have different regulations when it comes to purchasing property in Australia.

Pre-existing properties

Though temporary residents still need to apply through FIRB in order to be allowed to make a property purchase, they are given more provisions.

1. Temporary residents can only purchase one pre-existing dwelling for their residence in Australia.
2. Temporary residents cannot purchase property for investment purposes.

New properties

Temporary residents can apply through FIRB to purchase new property and are usually approved without issue.

Vacant land

If a temporary residents would like to purchase property for residential development, they will also need to go through FIRB. There are conditions on these kinds of purchases though, such as time restraints for construction.